The Darkest Frontier  Codex
by Robert S. Kester
Summary: A collection of information about the universe of my story "The Darkest Frontier". I figured it would help people understand a little more about TDF itself. Rated M for safety.
1. Codex  Human Timeline

Humanity's Time-Line

2109 – Humanity first constructs a permanent colony on Mars, a highly risky and dangerous operation.

2120 – Strange radioactive readings are detected at Utopia Planitia, Mars, and a careful xeno-archaeological dig is initiated, lasting several years.

2128 – The dig is complete, and what is discovered is a crashed alien starship, with advanced technology the Humans have never seen before. Reverse engineering, overseen by the United Earth Naval Sciences Division, is initiated.

2133 – The first prototype Human built starship to use Mass Negating Warp Drive is constructed, and barely reaches FTL speeds, ultimately achieving 1.0345c before the engines overheat and the ship must return to to International Space Station for study of the results.

2140 – After several tests are run, Warp technology quickly advances, and the Warp Five Initiative begins. The first advance comes late in 2140, when a ship capable of traveling at Warp 2 (10c) is created, the first major breakthrough of achieving the ultimate goal of the 22nd century.

2151 – The Warp Five Initiative achieves its results, and the Earth Naval Experimental Frigate USS Enterprise, NX-01, is completed and begins its mission of interstellar reconnaissance. Terran Naval Command fears that the Vulcans, whose ship was the one which crashed on Mars and provided all of modern technology, will return with a fleet and launch an assault on their home world. All of the early research, the first five years, into the Warp 5 program is declassified, allowing civilian institutions to build ships reaching Warp 3.

2152 – After 3 months of deep space travel, the Enterprise stumbles upon the Vulcan home world, initiating their stealth emissions masking systems and beginning to spy on the Vulcans. However, they underestimate the sophistication of the Vulcans' sensor technology, and are quickly spotted by a patrol cruiser. However, there is no aggression past the first "hello" and the Captain of the Enterprise, John Shepard, offers to take the ship back to Earth to reclaim the wreckage of the Vulcan ship and initiate diplomatic relations with Terran Command.

2156 – A radical xenophobic terrorist cell springs up, hiring an assassin, whom ends up killing an important Vulcan diplomat. In order to counter the political backlash, all centers of Military command on Earth begin removing restrictions on non-humans joining the military, and soon nearly 15% of the Military is made up of Vulcans. Also, a Vulcan Officer is assigned to the USS Enterprise as the XO and Navigator.

2158 – The United Terran Navy officially branches out its space-faring fleets into a new division, entitled Starfleet.

2161 – Plans for a new class of Frigates are put into effect, retiring the original Enterprise and putting her under a new Starfleet Registration of NCC-1701. The class is known as the Constitution, a 4 deck Frigate holding a crew of 25. Captain Shepard and his XO, Commander T'Pol remain as part of the crew. The Constitution class is a sub-type of Hunter, which flies with up to five other ships of the sub-type, searching for heavily damaged enemy vessels and finishing them off. Alone, it continues its mission of a recon vessel.

2163 – Despite desperate pleas from the Vulcan High Command, the Enterprise initiates first contact with the Andorians, quickly forging an alliance despite the presence of a Vulcan Executive Officer on board.

2169 – Humanity continues making first contact with numerous species, eventually stumbling into poorly marked Romulan space. A cloaked Bird of Prey quickly destroys the Enterprise, yet a majority of the crew save for T'Pol is able to make it to the Life Boats. They are forced to wait for nearly a day inside of the cramped interiors before being rescued by a heavily armed Vulcan Patrol ship, yet the Vulcan vessel's Warp Drive is heavily damaged, forcing them to a low speed of Warp 2.5 for three months before Warp 6 is finally restored and the crew is taken back to Earth. Humanity develops Cargo Transporters, completely unable to beam living organisms.

2170 – The Enterprise crew either splits up or retires after their 19 years together. Captain Shepard is promoted to Admiral and the entire crew is forced to watch as a new generation of officers takes their place, with the mission of the Enterprise replaced with the SRV Normandy, a Gateway Class Heavy Frigate, captained by a Vulcan Officer. Humanity develops Transporter technology for living organisms and bio-matter.

2176 – The Romulans are eventually seen as an actual threat, for much convincing on Admiral Shepard's part, and a proposed Alliance of Planetary Military Forces is drafted, but not strictly followed. War is declared as many ships are reported destroyed by Romulan vessels, but there is no response from the latter's government.

2180 – Official Command of Alliance and Starfleet is transferred to the Asgard Array, with a smokescreen command remaining on Earth, which actually lacks full power. Essentially they just transfer command orders and report to Alliance/Starfleet command at Asgard and relay their responses to the appropriate recipient.

2183 – The fringe xenophobic terrorist cell announces itself simply as "The Guardians" on an Alliance-space wide broadcast, interrupting all channels for nearly ten minutes as the leader, his voice and appearance disguised, reads his organization's entire manifesto and threatens the Alliance and all aliens on Earth and its colonies to leave or they will bring their fleet personally to the aliens to force them to leave. They are given one Earth week to respond, but only 2% of the alien population flees, as they know for the past 3 years, uninterrupted fleet development has been in progress at Asgard, and that the Alliance Fleet is prepared to face any terrorist threat.

2184 – The week given to the aliens was the final week of 2183, and on the first day of this year, a massive fleet of 326 state of the art ships jumps into orbit of Earth, forcibly abducting aliens from the planet. They bear the markings seen on the cover of "Terra Nova", their manifesto. The Alliance quickly responds, sending their larger fleet in, saving the aliens, and destroying most of the Terra Nova fleet, leaving the enemy with only 12 ships to jump back to their mysterious hidden base.

2188 – Reports spring up that the Terra Nova Guardians have disbanded, and their organization formally dissolved according to Starfleet Intelligence.

2190 – George Kirk is born, father of the later famous human hero James T. Kirk, a Federation Marine and future Captain of the SRV Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The Cold War with the Romulans eventually evolves into a formal war as the Romulan Star Empire contacts the Alliance and threatens them with an invasion fleet. They make good on their threat, and heavy losses are felt on both sides.

2196 – A loose alliance is formed with the Klingon Empire.

2200 – On March 10th, the grandson of the now dead Admiral Shepard, who has been an Alliance Naval Lieutenant on board the USS Shepard NCC-1800 for the past year, agrees to sign a new charter, for the United Federation of Planets, in honor of his grandfather. He is given a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and after a crew rotation, becomes the Executive Officer of the ship named after his grandfather.

2205 – After the death of the Captain, James Shepard is promoted to Commander and given command of the USS Shepard.

2208 – George Kirk is finally 18, and enlists in Starfleet Academy.

2212 – George Kirk graduates, with the rank of Ensign, and is assigned to the USS Shepard. He looks up to the Commander and his family lineage, hoping to be like him. They become close, with Commander Shepard as young Kirk's mentor, quickly allowing the Ensign to rise through the ranks.

2217 – Kirk gains the rank of Commander, with Commander Shepard gaining the rank of Admiral, and becomes the Commanding Officer of the USS Shepard.

2218 – George Kirk and Commander Lawson, his XO, end up having a child, naming him James Tiberius Kirk. James was in honor of the previous Captain of the ship, while Tiberius is George's father's name.

2225 – The USS Shepard is forced into confrontation with a Romulan vessel, and destroyed after an hours-long fight between the two near evenly matched ships. Nearly all hands make it to the Life Boats save for a few crewmen, and Captain Kirk is awarded many medals of heroism, including the Medal of Honor and Starfleet Legion of Merit before he attempts to settle down with his family on Asgard.

2230 – Starfleet begins rethinking combat strategies, hiring Klingon and Andorian officials to assist them in planning of battle maneuvers. This, along with the development of energy shielding, causes a 32% increase in their success rate.

2232 – Artificial Intelligence research begins on a remote colony by a Federation scientist, whose records and credentials are sealed. He is known only as the Unknown, yet his work is known, as he begins developing combat drones for the various Federation military forces. While not yet true AI, they do prove useful and increase the survivability rate of organic soldiers.

2236 – James T. Kirk takes a shuttle to Earth from Asgard, leaving his childhood home to enroll in the Federation Marines. After a year long tour with them on the front lines, he is awarded many medals and is recruited by a young Captain Pike to join Starfleet while on training leave in New York City, assisting the NYPD in utilizing Marine technology, tactics, and methodology.

2240 – Jim Kirk graduates Starfleet Academy, landing a posting on the USS Kelvin as an Ensign.

2243 - At a rank of Lieutenant Commander, James T. Kirk becomes the Gunnery Chief of the Kelvin, a role he was comfortable and familiar with from his days as a Marine. His knowledge around the Fire Control and Main Battery rooms allows him to easily increase the Kelvin's chance of surviving a battle with a Romulan Warship.

2245 – A Refit and Redesign of the Constitution class is drawn up, and Starfleet decides that the first ship of the class will be the Enterprise NCC-1701-A and that this ship will be their flag ship.

2247 – Kirk lands a posting on the newly finished Enterprise Frigate, again serving as Gunnery Chief, although with an increased rank of Commander and several new medals. Because the ship leaves the fitting yards at Utopia Planitia, Mars, with naught but a skeleton crew, he must also serve as XO under Captain Spock. While on board, he quickly befriends Captain Spock, and the Ship's Chief Physician, Commander Leonard McCoy.

2250 – The USS Enterprise successfully leads a Frigate Flotilla through battle with several Romulan ships. Both sides up the challenge for the other side, increasing their forces and learning new maneuvers. The Enterprise picks up a detachment of Marines to operate groundside missions.

2252 – Census data is recorded at Asgard. Population is recorded at 3.2 billion, yet it is estimated that this is only 62% of the station's total sustainable population. Asgard boasts a bustling trade center, living areas, fleet fitting yards, and military complexes. All known space faring species come to call this place home, yet none know how it got here, and all investigations afford little clues.

2254 – Due to being emotionally compromised, on part because he is half human, Spock is forced to resign his command of the Enterprise after he watches Romulan Warships destroy a helpless migrant Vulcan fleet, trying to escape their now inhospitable colony. The Enterprise, with a maximum Warp speed of 8.5, was over two hours away at best, unable to help the nearly 50,000 Vulcan lives lost. He grants Kirk the CO's position but not the rank of Captain. It is agreed between the two that there may be a time where Spock is needed as the Captain again, and Kirk will not take that away from him.

2257 – The Enterprise encounters a mysterious energy signal in an area of the Beta Quadrant, and launches an investigation, believing it to be some kind of enemy installation. The ship disappears, with all hands, and only a fragment of a report is received at the Starfleet Admiralty Office, reading, "Machines... AI... Transformed the crew... Pendramar..."

2260 – The Unknown is presumed dead on October 2nd as his last report suggested some kind of toxin leaking into his lab, and there is a seven month lapse since that last report. Investigations of his lab in sealed pressure suits indicated nothing. He did develop two Android prototypes, surprisingly lifelike, yet one had disappeared. He also creates a holographic Virtual Intelligence, an interactive wireframe version of himself, yet this is not actually AI. The Android is activated and comes to be known as Data.

2263 – A new class of cruiser is drawn up, the Excelsior Class, and it is decided that the first ship of the line will be the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B.

2270 – The war with the Romulan Empire enters a stalemate as neither side is willing to risk more losses until a significant proportion of their fleets are rebuilt.

2280 – The combined Federation fleet, with the military ships of all member species, exceeds 50,000 stand alone vessels.

2289 – After a years-long tour of the known Galaxy, Data returns to Earth, deciding to enlist in Starfleet Academy. The decommissioning ceremony of the Enterprise B occurs late this year.

2293 – Data graduates with many honors, becoming an Ensign and the first synthetic humanoid to serve on a Starfleet vessel, his first posting being the Alamo, a small Frigate.

2302 – Many advances in robotics allow Data to upgrade nearly his entire endoskeletal structure, making him stronger, faster, and more human like.

2312 – Combat Hard-Suits, a form of powered exoskeleton, are developed, and many Marines and Starfleet Operatives begin using them for combat missions.

2315 – The Completion of the Nimitz Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C Heavy Battleship, with a crew of 950, and the beginning of its mission occurs. Data attains rank of Lieutenant.

2320 – The first prototype Phase Rifles are distributed to Marines and carried aboard the Armories of Starfleet vessels, while simultaneously, Phase Cannons are installed on Starfleet ships.

2329 – William Thomas Riker is born. Data refuses to accept promotion, preferring a slower rate of advancement as he obtains a new posting groundside, working security for a Federation Penal Colony alongside Marines and Civilian Correction Officers. The decommissioning ceremony of the Enterprise C occurs.

2330 – The Mech Rebellions occur, where a large amount of automated fighting units are infected with some strange virus, causing them to kill every organic sapient being they encounter.

2335 – Data finally accepts promotion after he assists in the successful quelling of a potential prison break.

2341 – Will Riker enlists in the Federation Marine Corps., enduring a six month long tour on the front lines against the Romulans before landing a posting at the same Penal Colony alongside Data. The latter convinces him to enlist in Starfleet. At Utopia Planitia, drafts begin for a new class of Battleship, named the Galaxy Class.

2345 – Riker graduates with many honors from Starfleet Academy, landing a posting right back with Data on the Penal Colony of Draxia IV. The USS Galaxy NCC-10700 is launched from the fitting yards at Asgard, as the project was moved there for security reasons.

2346 – The first piece of the framework for a new, Galaxy Class, Enterprise NCC-1701-D is laid down at the Asgard Prime fitting yards. Riker becomes a Lieutenant Commander.

2355 – Riker lands a posting on the Enterprise, serving as XO under a Captain Pressly. The Captain dies during combat and Commander Riker assumes the rank of Captain and position of CO.

2356 – Current date.


	2. Codex  The Creators and Ragnarok

The Creators and Ragnarok

The Creators, genetically, were human. A dying species, (the only name given being the Progenitors) which was far more advanced than any other species ever known, took the human genome and created a population of roughly 7 billion. This was the original purpose of Asgard, to act as a giant, hidden cloning facility and eventual home for the cloned population. The Progenitors soon died out, and the Creators were left with their technology as their only legacy.

It is also worth mentioning that Creator culture was formed around an early incarnation of Norse Mythology and legends, passed down from the Progenitors.

Soon enough, the Creators created the Pendramar, yet they rebelled, and fearing that these malevolent machines would be responsible for the Day of Ragnarok, they left 750,000 of their people, all volunteers, on Earth as an insurance policy and fled beyond the Heimdall Veil, their name for the Galactic Far Rim, into the Void. Here they were to encounter the machine responsible for the corruption of the Pendramar, Drazzana, an ancient and powerful being, intent on wiping out all organic life.

Were it not for an encounter with this old machine, the Pendramar would have never turned against the Creators.

It was soon able to turn them into an enslaved machine race, with powerful new technologies that make the Pendramar seem like toys in comparison.

Collectively, they call themselves Ragnarok, and their standard introduction is, "We are the Squires of Ragnarok, heralding the day when fire brings world's end. We are the Harbingers of your Destruction. Prepare for ascension."

The Progenitors toiled for centuries in an attempt to create their idea for a perfect race, using DNA from both themselves and humans. They were unsuccessful in creating anything they considered more perfect than humanity or themselves, and most of the scattered, "failed" remnants of their experiments remained behind as sapient life in the form of Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Ferengi, Bajorans, Cardassians and the countless other humanoid species that roam the galaxy.


	3. Codex Military Ranks

These are the ranks for both Marines and Starfleet, and they often work closely together.

The first will be Starfleet, the second Marines.

Enlisted:

Crewman/Private

Specialist/Private First Class

Junior Petty Officer/Lance Corporal

Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs):

Second Class Petty Officer/Corporal

First Class Petty Officer/Sergeant

Chief Petty Officer/Staff Sergeant

Master Chief Petty Officer/Spartan

Commissioned Officers:

Ensign/Second Lieutenant

Lieutenant, Junior Grade/First Lieutenant

Lieutenant/Captain

Lieutenant Commander/Major

Commander/Lieutenant Colonel

Captain/Colonel

Flag:

Rear Admiral/Colonel of the Admiralty

Vice Admiral/Brigadier General

Admiral/Major General

Executive Admiral/Lieutenant General

Fleet Admiral/General


End file.
